WASHINGTON — Rep. Paul Ryan says the former government contractor who leaked classified information about U.S. surveillance programs must be "brought to justice."

The Republican Party's 2012 vice presidential candidate also tells MSNBC the spectacle of Edward Snowden's flight to Hong Kong and then Moscow and possibly Ecuador is proving embarrassing for Washington.

He says "it complicates" relations with countries with which the U.S. has extradition treaties. Aside from efforts to bring Snowden home, Ryan says the leaks raise troubling questions about the wide-ranging electronic surveillance.

Ryan says, "The program is more than I thought was occurring."

He adds that Congress should ask questions and get answers, including an explanation of how and why a government contract agent got the kind of access to sensitive information that was made available to Snowden.